aed use

Cal Fire stepped up its lifesaving readiness this month, with a massive effort to deploy 186 new AEDs throughout California.

Automated External Defibrillators are a vital link in the lifesaving chain of survival – picking up the gap between pre-hospital CPR and the more advanced medical care given to victims of sudden cardiac arrest once they reach the hospital.

The men and women of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) are dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of over 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands. In addition, the Department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties via contracts with local governments.

This week the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection took delivery of 93 Defibtech AEDs and placed an order for an additional 93 through an acquisition arrangement with the AED grant program.

These AEDs will be deployed to Cal Fire's 39 Conservation Camps statewide that house nearly 4,300 inmates and wards. These camps are operated in conjunction with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Through these cooperative efforts Cal Fire is authorized to operate 196 fire crews year-round. These crews are available to respond to all types of emergencies including wildfires, floods, search and rescue, and earthquakes. When not responding to emergencies, the crews are busy with conservation and community service work projects for state, federal, and local government agencies. Fire crews perform several million hours of emergency response each year, and more on work projects.

With this new lifesaving equipment, the dedicated, well-trained, emergency response forces can better respond successfully to heart attacks, drownings, and the many other types of emergencies they serve on a daily basis.

The AED grant program is a corporate sponsored buy-down grant initiative which has placed many thousands of AEDs throughout the US over the past 15 years. Working through corporate sponsorship the AED Grant project helps individuals, social and faith-based groups, as well as public and private entities obtain these Critical Lifesaving Devices at or below what an AED Distributor would pay for them, thereby empowering America toward the goal of deploying AED wherever tragedy may strike. "We could, and have in a few cases, provide 100% free AEDs," explains Amanda Jenkins of the AED Grant program, "but as a zero-profit initiative, making these lifesaving units available at or below normal Distributor cost we are able to able to help launch thousands upon thousands of these simple lifesavers to qualifying individuals, groups, and businesses – rather than just a select few." Sponsored by AED manufacturers including Defibtech, as well as safety companies such as American CPR Training™ and First-Aid-Product.com, the program is now in its 15th year with ever-greater deployments, such as this Cal Fire project, and recent large initiatives with AAA, in addition to several Public Utilities and Indian Reservations – plus thousands of smaller businesses, churches, schools, and individuals.

About the AED Grant ProgramThe National AED Grant program is a corporate buy-down grant program funded by generous donations, corporate backing, and AED manufacturer sponsors. The program has changed many time since its inception from a single manufacturer program to the current program backed by AED & CPR training organizations and the AED Manufacturers themselves.

About First-Aid-Product.comFor almost a quarter century, First-Aid-Product.com has been saving lives and saving money with Wholesale Direct to the Public™ First Aid, CPR, Survival and Safety products online. As the Master Distributor for 100's of top first aid brands, and manufacturer of their own product line, First-Aid-Product.com stocks over 300,000 products and enables businesses to exceed their compliance requirements below budget and with same day shipping of the highest quality safety supplies in the industry.

About American CPR Training™American CPR Training™ was founded in 1993 to provide live, onsite CPR & First Aid Training at ½ the Time, ½ the Price, and TWICE the Fun!™ - Decades later, American CPR™ has thousands of Instructor nationwide – and spanning the globe, making lifesaving training fun and affordable for businesses that require safety training and any group interested in learning how to save lives. 1 out of every 2,000 Americans has now learned how to make their workplace or community safer through American CPR™ bystander rescue skills.

We've talked about the importance of AED use in the Chain of Survival, but what is it really about?

Early Defibrillation

Early defibrillation and entry into the Emergency Medical System is vital to the victim’s survival. Many public and private organizations are now equipped with Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Proper administration of an AED device to a victim of cardiac arrest within the first 1 to 5 minutes can raise a victim’s survival chances to as high as 74%.

AED’s are becoming increasingly affordable and common, and AED use is thought by many to be easier than learning CPR. AEDs are lightweight, run on batteries, analyze the heart rhythm, and automatically indicate when to shock, and when to continue CPR.

The AED unit should be retrieved right after the EMS are notified. Have someone else retrieve and begin setting the unit up while you attend to the victim.